its fine at the start of the month..

kezzygirl

..when i have paid the debts from my wage.I then get worried and think of them throughout the month, as though i am not doing enough.anyone else the same?

or am i just weird lol

Primrose2004

nope i'm the same. I read lots of posts on here and think i'm not doing enough, people make PAD and ebay, earn extra etc etc and all i've done is make 2 payments(only had LBM 2 months ago so paid once each month)

I have made progress in other ways though. I haven't added anything to the cc(the main debt) since 20th July so maybe I should start thinking of that as my goal rather than the payments? I know in the future I wil be able to pay more than I have the last 2 months but for now that's all I can manage.

kezzygirl

yes that would be a nice way to look at it.i thought that myself today actually lol weve not used the credit card for a couple of months.been in overdraft every month though!

have opened a cashminder account with the co-op,just waiting for all of the account details etc then its all systems go!i suppose thinking about it,that is something positive.

kezzygirl

i think i perhaps feel this way because i want all of the debt gone NOW.I dont want to wait...i just want it gone.but its frustrating as i am doing all i can, but its still not shifting ALL of the debt.well, technically it is,but you know what i mean!

saltnvinegar

Hi Kezzy Girl

No its a perfectly normal feeling. You have good days and bad days the same as any other 'cold turkey'!

Its like moving any massive weight, the initial effort required to get it moving is huge.

However once it starts moving it has a momentum of its own and it doesn't take much to get it to speed up!

You're at that initial momentum stage. After 6 months or so you'll not be so worried about those payments, and may even start to see some extra income come in and start to make overpayments which adds its own momentum as that debt reduces even more.

The important thing is you're paying back your debts but also leaving yourself enough to live and not staying stuck in that debt cycle.

SnV

orangesmartie

I'm the same Kezzy. I think about my debts every day and what I need to do to pay them off. I recalculate almost on a daily basis how many months it'll take and what else can I do.

I keep a spending diary if i need to buy anything and talk myself out of all sorts of nice treats that I used to buy without a second's thought.

I think I may be slightly obsessive about it actually....but I am absolutely determind to get them paid off by next summer. By then I will have finished my degree (distance learning) and will know if I am going to be made redundant. If I am, I am going to start a new life in Spain. And I want to be able to do it debt free.

So I think the hours that I spend positively worrying (ie not worrying how I'll pay but wondering what else I can do/cut/change to get the debts down) are well spent. I have, over the last few weeks remembered things that I could stop, or change or sell to earn that little bit more.

I guess I've decided at the moment there isn't anything else I am prepared to do to earn additional money other than ebay, so I am concentrating on ensuring I don't waste the money I have and that I don't get any deeper into debt.

Swinstie73

I'm the same, I'm constantly tweaking my spreadsheet trying to figure out when I'll be debt free - in six months hopefully, also constantly moving money from one account to another just so I can pay a wee bit more. And, waiting for next payday, even if I only got paid the day before! So if you are weird, then so am I!

persian_star

Ditto everything you said orangesmartie (except the degree and moving to spain - wow - good luck with all that! )

I guess it's all a matter of patience and lasting through the 'dull' days until you can pay off more (like being on a diet really )

kezzygirl

i too recalculate what we owe and see what would happen if we snowballed.the annoying thing is that we have money for entertainment lol so bit gutted as that could go on debt.this month, and i am absolutely gutted to say, we spent £75 on eating out for us and two kids.SEVENTY FIVE POUNDS!

it is our 7 year anniversary today so tonight we are going for a meal...on the credit card.should be about £30 and we will pay it straight off next week when i get paid.

kezzygirl

our kids arent old either 4 and 17mths

ms_london

Hi Kezzygirl

The meal might be nice at the time but in years to come you aren't going to remember that £75 meal and think 'oh what a lovely evening, that really changed my life' and your kids certainly won't remember it either... I think it is all about sacrifice, but also priorities - I am not saying cut out all luxuries completely, but you can still prioritise and decide which of them is more important to you.

As others have said, this board is great for all of the challenges that are going on, see it as a game and try and make as much money as you can to throw at your debts. I get a thrill out of selling on ebay and even if its £10 in my paypal account, thats another £10 off my credit card.

xx